The work began in 1983 in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada with the establishment of
the Service for Sexual Assault Victims by Professor Renner's community psychology class at
Dalhousie University. The focus shifted to the legal aspects of sexual
assault in 1993 when he become a Research Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON, Canada. Over
this period of time, he and his graduate students made numerous scholarly contributions to
the field. In September of 1998 they launched an effort in Canada to press for reforms in the criminal justice process.
When Professor Renner retired to the United States, his efforts have been
directed on developing a social action program in both countries
to simultaneously press for reforms in the legal process. He continues to
hold an Adjunct Research Professorship at Carleton University in Canada, as
well as a similar academic appointment at the University of South
Florida.

In June of 2002, the Society for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues (SPSSI) awarded Dr. Renner a Sage Grant to establish a US web site for
the National Action Plans Against Sexual Assault (NAPASA)
based on the applied materials developed through the basic research program
conducted in Canada.

In October of 2004, Carleton University in Canada and EVAW International in
the United States were awarded a simultaneous grants by
the Canadian Donner Foundation and by the W. H. Donner Foundation of New York
to train eight participant-communities in each country in the NAPASA strategy
to more effectively prosecute sex offenders. The two national "Make a
Difference" conferences will be held on October 12-15, 2004 in Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada, and on October 26-29, 2004 in San Diego, California. For more information go to the
"Making a Difference" section of this website.